Growing Hope

August 23, 1987|By Laura Ost

A SYNTHETIC hormone is producing dramatic growth increases in children who lack the natural growth hormone, researchers in Milwaukee say. Preliminary findings show that among 29 children receiving the artificial hormone, the average child doubled his or her growth rate, said Dr. David Wyatt of the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. The most striking change occurred in the first year of treatment, when the average child's growth increased to almost 5 inches from a previous 1.5 inches per year, he said. The Milwaukee project is part of a nationwide study to determine benefits of the synthetic hormone.